The Sehome girls' cross country team claimed first place at the South Whidbey Invitational and the Squalicum and Sehome boys' teams placed fourth and fifth, respectively, Saturday, Sept. 15, at South Whidbey High School.

Mount Baker, Lynden and Nooksack Valley competed in the event, as well a number non-conference schools ranging from Class 4A to 1A.

Emily Pittis paced the Mariners with a third-place time of 19 minutes, 3 seconds in the 5K race. Rebekah Oviatt and Sarah Huffman also turned in fine performances. Squalicum's Brittany Gappa placed second, clocking in at 18:38.70.

"There were some high-caliber teams there," Sehome coach Kevin Ryan said in a phone interview. "Some of the young girls stepped up quite a bit and ran well. I thought Rebekah (Oviatt) and Dana (Ringler) really showed in their first big race."

Lynden's Grace Sauter, Mount Baker's Rachael Hatcher and Nooksack Valley's Alex Parson posted top times for their respective schools.

On the boys' side, Squalicum's Patrick Gibson claimed an individual title with his first-place finish time of 15:46.78. Chris Fredlund and Nick Gallaher also posted top times for the Storm.

Sehome's Conner Johnsen placed fifth overall with a time of 16:49.79, and teammate Reed Henderson finished seventh with a time of 16:17.17. Liam Toney finished just outside the top 10 with a 13th-place finish in a time of 16:41.53 for the Mariners.

"I thought Reed, Conner and Liam - all those three boys had a great race," Ryan said. "Conner has been dealing with some pain, so it was a really good race for him."

Mount Baker's Dillon Quintana finished fourth overall with a time of 16:11.54.

Robby Swineford posted Lynden's top time with his 18:09.07, and Nooksack Valley's Stephen Dietz ran an 18:04.41

At South Whidbey High School

5K

Team scores: 1. Sehome 45; 2. Henry Jackson 82; 3. Eastlake 83; 4. Eisenhower 86

Top individual finishers: 1. Sally Larson (Cedar Park) 18:29.22; 2. Brittany Gappa (Squalicum) 18:38.70; 3. Emily Pittis (Sehome) 19:03.00

Sehome: Emily Pittis 19:03.00; Rebekah Oviatt 19:41.95; Sarah Huffman 20:05.91; Abby Cybula 20:24.79; Dana Ringler 20:27.22; Zanna Sullivan 20:35.87; Lindsay Hodgson 21:05.45: Jessa Clark 21:06.16.

Lynden: Grace Sauter 21:31.97; Kendra Hack 24:29.79; Michelle Navis 25:41.78; Morgan Nims 28:09.14.

Squalicum: Brittany Gappa 18:38.70; Claire Scott 22:13.00; Rachel Phipps 22:59.15; Tara Knight 23:32.81; Kristin Smith 24:17.40; Danica Capili 28:40.08.

Nooksack Valley: Alex Parson 22:34.20; Kelly Jackson 23:38.81; Jessica Jose 23:59.86; Natalie Vandeist 24:35.25; Kaycee DeBruin 27:21.88.

Mount Baker: Rachael Hatcher 20:42.49; Kelsie Nern 21:24.49; Katherine Dunford 23:35.51; Katie Buss 24:08.12; Rayedeen Engels 24:53.66.

At South Whidbey High School

5K

Team scores: 1. Henry Jackson 68; 2. Kamiak 68; 3. Eisenhower 72; 4. Squalicum 76, 5. Sehome 79

Top individual finishers: 1. Patrick Gibson (Squalicum) 15:46.78; 2. Nathan Wadhwani (N/A) 16:03.72; 3. Drew Schreiber (Eisenhower) 16:09.97 4: Dillon Quintana (Mount Baker) 16:11.54.

Sehome: Conner Johnsen 16:14.79; Reed Henderson 16:17.17; Liam Toney 16:41.53; Kirby Overman 17:22.81; Peter Finfrock 17:28.45; Zane Markosian 17:43.44; Josh Schacht 17:43.69; Langston Engle 18:42.95; Nathan LeTavec 18:56.58

Squalicum: Patrick Gibson 15:46.78; Chris Fredlund 16:33.00; Nick Gallaher 16:47.19; Dylan Dubuque 17:04.36; Jared Radtke 17:32.68; Dillon Rinauro 17:36.78; North Bennett 17:43.18; Josh Yeend 18:11.28

Mount Baker: Dillon Quintana 16:11.54; Shelby Miles 18:00.89; Ishmael Villaluz 18:11.42; Calvin Ledet 20:37.68; Kody Kelley 20:39.45; Josh Meyer 20:49.83; Jacob Koranda 22:23.26; Phillip Haggith 29:18.09.

Lynden: Robby Swineford 18:09.07; Nick Iaconetti 19:31.74; Preetpal Sangha 19:32.08; Anthony Ricci 20:37.21; Eli Varner 21:34.24; Tyler Stokes 21:52.42.

Nooksack Valley: Stephen Dietz 18:04.41; Landon Olenslager 19:27.88; Jordan Hem 19:32.82; Brett Johnson 19:52.86; Conner Jones 20:15.78; Derek Johnson 20:16.01; Taylor Gardner 20:45.40;